American women boost U.S. Olympic results despite poor Alpine showing

DENVER, the United States, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The United States finished the Beijing Winter Olympics in fourth place with eight gold medals from 25 overall, but its Alpine ski team produced only one medal - its lowest output in 34 years.

Shining through the winter cold north of Beijing were American women athletes, and several made history with their performances.

Among the 25 medals, 17 were earned by women, accounting for almost 70 percent. This was a stark contrast to the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris where only two percent of participating athletes were women.

"Women are the backbone of the American effort," said Megan Harrod, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Alpine press officer.

STANDOUTS

Chloe Kim, the 2018 Olympic gold medalist in women's snowboard halfpipe, did it again in Beijing with a near perfect first run.

"That's it ladies and gentlemen, that run right there, that's guaranteed gold," the NBC announcer exclaimed even before an unbeatable score of 94 was posted by judges. Kim's run on YouTube had attracted more than one million views as of Tuesday.

Kim made her Olympic debut at age 17 at the PyeongChang Games, took a year off from competition for her first year of college at Princeton University, then returned to capture gold again at the age of 21, becoming the first woman to win two gold medals in snowboard halfpipe.

Lindsey Jacobellis also won gold at the women's snowboard cross event, becoming the oldest snowboarder to medal at the Olympics at the age of 36. It was Jacobellis' fifth appearance at the Games, where she also helped Team USA earn gold in the mixed team event.

Speed skater Erin Jackson won an Olympic gold medal in the 500m race to become the first African-American to medal in a speed skating event. Jackson, 29, made her only event in Beijing count and expressed thanks after her performance to her teammate, Brittany Bowe, who gave Jackson her qualifying spot.

Jessie Diggins became the most decorated cross-country skier in U.S. history in Beijing and the first American to win multiple cross-country medals in the same Olympics.

Diggins won the team's last medal of the Games with a silver in the women's 30km mass start free on Sunday despite a leg cramping for the last half of the race.

"My legs were cramping the whole last 17 kilometers. I don't know how I made it to the finish. It was amazing," she added.

Seven new Olympic disciplines were unveiled at the Beijing Games, including the women's monobob, where the American team had a one-two finish.

Not to be outdone, several men rose to the occasion and made the podium.

Alexander Hall and Nicholas Goepper nailed gold and silver in slopestyle skiing. The twosome's feat in Beijing marked the third straight Winter Games where Team USA claimed the top two spots in slopestyle skiing.

Ryan Cochran-Siegle barely missed gold by 0.04 seconds behind defending champion Matthias Mayer of Austria in the men's super-G.

DOWNTURNS

At the PyeongChang Games four years ago, the American men didn't earn an Alpine medal, but the women got three. In this century, Team USA's Alpine squad got five medals in 2014, eight in 2010, two in 2006, and two in 2002.

Shiffrin was already one of the most accomplished skiers in history at age 26, with two Olympic gold medals and a silver, along with six world championship golds, three overall World Cup titles, 73 World Cup race wins (third-most ever), and 47 World Cup slalom victories (a record for any discipline).

But, Shiffrin left Beijing empty-handed in her five events in Beijing.

After each misstep, Shiffrin bravely faced the media and made no excuses for her "epic underperformance."

"I don't really understand it, and I'm not sure when I'm going to have much of an explanation," Shiffrin told NBC last Thursday after she tumbled after only 10 seconds into the slalom portion of the combined event. "And I can't explain to you how frustrated I am to not know what I can learn from the day."

"Mikaela doesn't give excuses. She's a complete professional with a work ethic second to none," Harrod told Xinhua.

But America's social media was not so kind to the 26-year-old superstar. Nasty "hate" messages flooded social media platforms after each of her falls.

"Mikaela Shiffrin doesn't have anything to prove to anyone at the Beijing Olympics," CBS Sports headlined Sunday. "The best Alpine skier in U.S. history doesn't need a single win in these Olympics to validate her brilliant career," the story noted.